Infiniti Exits Western European Market in 2020, Kills QX30

Infiniti’s European division is calling it quits.

Infiniti has decided to pull out of the Western European market as part of a global restructuring initiative.

Nissan’s luxury brand entered Europe — home of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi — in 2008 and never had much success finding a foothold. Its best-ever year on the old continent was in 2015 when it sold nearly 14,000 vehicles. In 2019, the company delivered just 6,000 units!

The decision to leave Europe will allow Infiniti to focus on growth opportunities in North America and China. It will still operate in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Production at its Sunderland, UK plant, which builds the Q30 hatchback and QX30 crossover, ceases in mid-2019, and the company plans to discontinue its diesel engines as part as it shifts to electrify its entire lineup starting in 2021.

Finally, Infiniti will place more focus on its SUV lineup in North America to capitalize on the SUV-crossover craze and bring five new vehicles to China over the next five years.

3 Sneaky Auto Insurance Practices You Should Look Out For

No one likes insurance scams, and you definitely wouldn’t want to fall for one.

If you’re in the market for a new car, you’ll of course need a good insurance policy. Per usual, the first course of action is to figure out what to do with your previous vehicle (assuming you have one).

There are usually four primary options available to you: trade the car in, sell it, junk it, or give it away (for instance, if you lived along the California coast, you could look for ways to ).

After considering your options, you can move forward with choosing a new vehicle and deciding what to do about your insurance policy. Stay with your current provider? Switch and get a new one? Either way, it’s crucial that you use this transitioning stage to re-examine your policy, identify any red flags, and learn more about the industry. There are many tricks that auto insurance companies use to avoid paying for claims, so the more educated you are about these types of tricks, the better you’ll be able to react if you’re being targeted.

With that in mind, here are three sneaky auto insurance tactics to keep an eye out for:

1) Outrageous Claim Denials

The auto insurance industry is riddled with outrageous claim denial stories. In these cases, a person who deserves to receive funds for medical expenses or other claims are denied for ridiculous reasons. There’s a reason for this. Although all auto insurance companies have a public-facing side that frames their company as on the side of their policyholders, the truth is that many companies reward their employees for their ability to deny claims and sneak their way out of paying for claims rightfully. In fact, Tom Wilson, the CEO of AllState, was as saying, “Our obligation is to earn a return for our shareholders.”

One of the most famous examples of outrageous claim denials is the , who was wound up in a coma for 9 days after a bad car accident. After she came out of her coma, not only was she confined to a wheelchair, but awoke to an incredibly high medical bill. As she worked to get her bill paid for through her insurance agency, she was shockingly denied because Farmers Insurance claimed that the other driver hit her intentionally, and therefore she was not actually involved in an “accident.”

This case exploded in the media, and Farmers Insurance eventually paid out the claim after much public outcry. If you ever find yourself in a similar position, the best thing to do is to try and get as much exposure as you can; talk about it on social media, encourage others to share it, and call up your local newspapers and television stations.

2) Delay Policy Claims

Delaying policy claims is the one of the oldest tricks in the auto insurance book. With this tactic, the auto insurance company purposely delays a claim in the hopes that the policyholder will simply give up. And there are many different ways auto insurance companies will delay a claim. They might leave the policy holder on the phone for hours at a time, giving them the runaround.

One insurance company, Conesco, who bundled auto and life insurance policies, received bad press when they started sending the wrong forms to their policyholders, forcing them past the deadline. One profiled the story of Mary Rose Derks, who was denied her claims to move into an assisted living home multiple times, each time for a different reason.

“Interviews by The New York Times and confidential depositions indicate that some long-term-care insurers have developed procedures that make it difficult — if not impossible — for policyholders to get paid,” the article states. “A review of more than 400 of the thousands of grievances and lawsuits filed in recent years shows elderly policyholders confronting unnecessary delays and overwhelming bureaucracies. In California alone, nearly one in every four long-term-care claims was denied in 2005, according to the state.”

3) Too Much Fine Print

Like every other agreement you might sign, there’s a lot to be said in the fine print. And unfortunately, the majority of people don’t read the fine print… ever. In fact, one found that 91% of Americans agree to the Terms of Service without ever actually reading it. And the fine print can completely ruin your claim and hurt your ability to take care of yourself and your property after an accident.

It’s important to go through the fine print in your policy, and to stay up to date with any changes that may occur in your policy. If you have legal representation, have them take a look at it and point out any potential issues that may arise.

Next Audi RS7 Will Be Most Powerful Audi Yet

The next-generation Audi RS7 will have big power to work with.

Prototypes of the next RS7 have been spotted undergoing testing on the Nurburgring on several occasions, but we’ve now learned a bit more about what’s underneath the cameo.

According to , the performance-tuned A7 will be the most powerful Audi yet. Whereas the standard RS 7 will reportedly be powered by a 4.0L twin-turbocharged V8 that makes around 600 horsepower, the RS 7 Performance will take advantage of a new plug-in hybrid powertrain consisting of the 4.0L V8 and a 140 horsepower electric motor.

Meet Thor And Vader, The Last Two Koenigsegg Agera

Production of the Koenigsegg Agera has come to an end, but not without a bang!

Meet Thor and Vader, the final two Ageras to roll off the assembly line. Both are based on the Agera RS but come equipped with all available options, including customized aerodynamic solutions, at no additional cost to the owner.

Thor is distinguished by a two-tone clear carbon finish with diamond flake and a LeMans-inspired central fin that enhances the Agera’s existing active aerodynamics.

Väder, on the other hand, boasts a traditional clear carbon finish with diamond flake and white gold leaf highlights, two small rear winglets, and an enlarged rear spoiler that’s supported by strakes with custom cutouts that reveal the skeleton beneath.

Both Final Edition Ageras benefit from several other enhancements, including custom-designed front winglets, enlarged front and rear spoilers, and the 1MW (one megawatt) upgrade to their 1,360 horsepower, 1,011 pounds-feet of torque 5.0-liter V8 engine.

In 2017, the Agera compiled a handful of speed records, including earning the title of world’s fastest street-legal production car after posting an average speed of 277.9 mph (444.6 kph) in two trial runs.

Yes, production of the impressive Swedish hypercar has come to an end, but don’t expect Koenigsegg to rest on its laurels. The company still has the Regera in production and is already working on a replacement for the Agera.